Pacio Dethroned

MANILA, Philippines — Joshua Pacio relinquished his strawweight title to American challenger Jarred Brooks after absorbing a unanimous decision loss as ONE Championship marked its Philippine comeback with ONE 164 at the MOA Arena in Pasay Saturday.

Despite the jampacked Filipino crowd behind him, the Team Lakay stalwart could not get the job done in his fourth title defense against a very aggressive Brooks, who ran away with the country’s only remaining world title.

Over in Korea Saturday, Johnriel Casimero’s fight with Japanese Ryo Akaho was declared a No Contest. Akaho complained of an illegal blow, and refused to continue fighting even after a five-minute break to recover.